HC Deb 24 March 1983 vol 39 cc1002-3
3. Mr. Cryer

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what impact his policies have had on the creation of employment opportunities.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Leon Brittan)

The Government's balanced fiscal and monetary policies, along with lower pay settlements, are the essential prerequisites for sustainable improvements in employment.

Mr. Cryer

Is it not true that the average person's tax burden is higher under this Government than it was under the Labour Government in 1979? Is it not also true that the only people to benefit from the Government's tax policies are the wealthy, who have been busy shovelling money abroad at the rate of over £9 billion in less than three years due to the removal of exchange controls? Instead of investing in British manufacturing industry, they have invested their money anywhere for a fast buck. Do not those policies mean—on the Chancellor's own figures—that 1,000 people per day will join the dole queue in the next 12 months?

Mr. Brittan

If the hon. Gentleman wants to make comparisons, he should note that real net income after tax and national insurance contributions is up on the 1979 figure at all levels, assuming that earnings have risen in line with the average. He should also bear in mind that, in terms of percentage points, the tax burden under the Labour Government greatly exceeded that of the present Government.

Mr. Forman

Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware of the importance of creating employment opportunities for part-time work? Is he further aware that the Chancellor's recent Budget, with its part-time job release scheme, was very much a step in the right direction? Will my right hon. and learned Friend see to it that his Department does even more to encourage part-time work?

Mr. Brittan

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his remarks about that aspect of the Chancellor's Budget and I entirely agree that the move to facilitate and encourage part-time employment in that way is to be welcomed, both in terms of employment and as a reflection of social trends.

Mr. Jay

Is it not now painfully clear that the Government's blunder in abolishing exchange controls is keeping interest rates much too high?

Mr. Brittan

That is a strange observation from a party that takes the right hon. Gentleman's view about the exchange rate.

Mr. Maclennan

What is the Chief Secretary's view of the impact on unemployment of the slump in the value of the pound against the basket of currencies? It is standing at the lowest level for six years. Does he propose to take measures to offset the ensuing price impact?

Mr. Brittan

The hon. Gentleman will have heard my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer give the true position of the value of the pound. He will also have heard the view expressed that, whatever the total advantages and disadvantages, if British industry avails itself of the opportunity provided by a fall in the value of the pound there are advantages to be gained in terms of jobs.

Mr. Kenneth Carlisle

Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that there is now quite a variety of schemes to help the unemployed and that one of the best is the enterprise allowance? It makes sense to give those starting businesses on their own help with their living expenses for the first year. Is my right hon. and learned Friend aware that we welcome the fact that the scheme is being extended to the whole country?

Mr. Brittan

The enterprise allowance, which was originally introduced on a pilot basis, has proved successful. There have been about 2,000 successful applications in the very small pilot area. As my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor said, the time has come to extend this scheme more widely throughout the country.